Gregory Peterson retired in May 2022 from Luther College, Decorah, Iowa, where he has been named Professor of Music and College Organist Emeritus. He has accepted a new call as director of worship and music at Normandale Lutheran Church, Edina, Minnesota, where he is principal organist and oversees a large and varied choral and instrumental music ministry.
Prior to his tenure at Luther College, Peterson served Old South Church, Boston, Massachusetts, as organist and minister of music from 1997 until 2005. At Old South, he directed the Old South Choir, Old South Ringers, and performed regularly with the Old South Brass, Organ, and Timpani Ensemble including the annual First Night Concerts on New Year’s Eve. He was visiting assistant professor of music and Christ Chapel Organist at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota, from 1993 until 1996. He has also been a visiting professor at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington, and served as music director for churches in Connecticut, Iowa, Minnesota, and Washington. He worked on the development committee and as a trustee of the Association of Lutheran Church Musicians and was president of ALCM from 1997 until 2001. He is active in the American Guild of Organists and is a frequent workshop leader at conferences. For the past ten seasons, he has served as organist for the annual Christmas festival concerts by the National Lutheran Choir.
Peterson has performed in venues including St. James Cathedral, Seattle, Washington; Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, Washington; Independent Presbyterian Church, Birmingham, Alabama; Trinity Church, Old West Church, and Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Mission Church), Boston; Methuen Memorial Music Hall, Methuen, Massachusetts; and The Riverside Church and Central Synagogue, New York City. European venues include Matthäuskirche, Dom, and Gedächtniskirche, Berlin; Rock Church, Helsinki; St. Anne Church, Warsaw; St. Nicholas Church, Prague; St. Thomas Church, Leipzig; Cathedral of Uppsala, Sweden; and St. Augustine Church, Cardiff. He is featured on the compact discs Heroic Sounds and Dieterich Buxtehude: A 300th Anniversary Celebration. His most recent releases are Songs of Peace, Petition, and Proclamation and a Christmas disc, Air with Joy Is Ringing.
Peterson earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in music at Luther College and holds the Master of Music degree from the Yale University Institute of Sacred Music. He received the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in organ performance and pedagogy from the University of Iowa. He has participated in the Summer Institute for French Organ Study and the Gothenburg International Organ Academy in Sweden.
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